A shepherd leads his flock through a street in Zakopane, Poland, after heavy snow. The unseasonable weather killed at least four Poles and cut power and heating to hundreds of thousands of homes in Central Europe.

Three people, including a shepherd, froze to death in the mountains of southern Poland and a man died when his car was blown off the road in the north of the country.

In northeastern parts of the Czech Republic roads and railway lines were blocked by fallen trees after strong winds and snow about 50cm (20in) deep in the mountains.

Meteorologists said that snow flurries were not uncommon in Poland in October, but the conditions had been unexpectedly severe this week.

In the Austrian Alps there has been up to 90cm of snow in the past two days. Several ski resorts in southern Styria have opened their slopes in the earliest start to the season on record.

The CEZ power group declared a state of emergency in eight Czech districts because power lines had been damaged and sent hundreds of workers to repair them. A malfunction in a heating plant left many of the 40,000 residents in Jablonec and Nisou without heat and the mayor was considering closing schools, a Czech news website reported.

Some Polish villagers suffered because they had not yet bought coal for the winter.

There was snow in the mountain ranges of eastern Germany and overnight frost in the west, with temperatures falling as low as minus 8.5C (16.5F) (Reuters)